The Dolphin Striker

We went there on Mothers Day. The food was good but I was shocked at the portion size. I ordered the tuna three ways under entrée section ($ 26) and it looked like an appetizer. I am not a big eater at all but if I had known I would have had a salad first. I don’t see why they can’t add some rice. That’s cheap and would make it more filling. As soon as the plate was put in front of me I started thinking about going to Popovers for dessert. The desserts on the menu looked enticing but I was afraid the portion would be tiny. My husbands portion of haddock seemed more reasonable but he left still hungry also. Kids had fish and chips and portion was normal. We said we would never go back.

Had steak tips. Came with 3 tiny potatoes, about 4 small broccoli, and about 4 small pieces of meat for $ 24. This place is expensive for what you get. The Tavern is cozy. It was just ok.

Food wasn’t very good, steak tips were chewy like meat gum. Overpriced.
Drunk old pervert at the bar downstairs was making everyone uncomfortable.
I’ll give this place another chance, it has great potential but Saturday night they were off their game.

The Dolphin Striker has been a fixture in Portsmouth since I graduated from UNH in 1974. My wife and I stopped in for lunch after not having dined there for 15 years. We had a calamari appetizer, The food was good. The calamari was served warm, not overdone which is often the case. My burger was good, not spectacular as was the tuna sandwich.
Our over all impression was that the interior was shabby. There was peeling paint, well worn chairs, and the table service (plates and dishes) should have been replaced years ago. The Dolphin Strikers needs some serious renovations.

The dolphin striker strikes again, second time here I went for the valetines day holiday menu 50 dollars a person for a 3 course meal with champagne. For apps we chose the goat cheese salad and the dips trio. My date cleaned her plate on the goat cheese salad it was phenomenal, great dressing small pieces of smoked bacon it had an array of well balanced flavors. The dip trio had a lobster brie dip that was unreal and loaded with lobster the other two dips were buffalo and artichoke which were just ok. I ordered the steak tips that came with roasted potatoes and a seasoned broccoli my date ordered the haddock oscar. The steak tips were perfectly cooked and and had awesome flavor the broccoli needed more seasoning as it just tasted like plain steamed broccoli. My dates haddock oscar was unreal the fish was nice and tender with a generous portion of lobster on the side the hollendaise merried everything in the dish together. We had cheesecake and chocolate cake for dessert both were fantastic. The atmosphere is cozy here we definitely will return.

I ordered seared scallops was good, but it had something in the middle which was kind of sour, the cheesecake was delicious.

This restaurant use to be a staple for my family. The last three times we dined here were very unpleasant. The food is good but the staff ruins the outing. Aside from an older waitress and the owner majority of the staff is blatantly abusing some kind of substance. Really uncomfortable to be around and try to explain to your children. The food is not worth the atmosphere if you are not a substance abuser.

Was here on a Saturday night in July and Portsmouth was packed. We were a bachelorette party of 15 women, and had a reservation. The owner and staff accommodated us to sit in a high top table up front. We started with shared apps and a lot of cocktails. The server was awesome! Everything came out well-​timed and we were rarely waiting on a new drink. Entrees were excellent– I ate the lobster, shrimp, and scallop Cajun pasta (without the Cajun spice— I know, I know). They had no trouble making the dish customized for me. The pasta tasted homemade and the leek sauce was so tasty. Wish I could’ve ate it all!
Overall, I thought the price was very good considering what we ordered. And Peter, the owner, is a great guy, as is his daughter Alyssa!
Thank you for the wonderful night!

Great place with a fascinating history printed right on the menu. Mussels were some of the best we’ve had anywhere. The broth was superb and waitress was kind enough to bring bread to soak it up. Garden salad was also quite good. The tuna trio was good but great. The tartar was excellent, the seared was too spicey and the carpaccio was unevenly cut and lacked flavor. Waitress was very friendly and had a good evening despite uneven menu.

Tried to go her last night but the owner wouldn’t even let us put our name down to be called when a table opened up. Instead he told us that they were «sold out.» It’s not a «reservations only» place, he just didn’t want to bother taking down our name. Boo.

Stopped at spring hill tavern at 6:15 tonight because their sign said music at 7. Even though the place feels like a dive.
Service was great for the first 5 minutes. Then never saw anyone waiting tables again. After sitting for 50 minutes the music was clearly not beginning at 7. Got our check. To our surprise the so-​so martini I got was $ 14.50. I’ve been to many nice local places and have never paid more than $ 12. We don’t live in NY city! It’s portsmouth!

Visited the Dolphin Striker this past weekend with friends for a girls weekend. EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE and the food was SO delicious.
The restaurant itself is quaint, well decorated, and comfortable.
Even though they were very busy — as most places are in Portsmouth on a Saturday night, our server warned us right away that they were really busy, which is just nice to know. After eating there I can see why they were so busy! Our server was very quick to bring us the bottles of wine we requested and order our appetizers. We ordered the oyster and the dip sampler, which were both so delicious. I’d recommend both. The manager even greeted our table, as well as others in the restaurant to explain they were running a bit behind as the restaurant was so busy. He was very friendly and accommodating. He asked if we needed anything while we waited.
Our server was also very knowledgeable regarding GLUTEN free selections on the menu. One of the friends I was with has a severe gluten allergy and was at ease by our server’s helpfulness in deciding what to order.
We all order seafood dishes — all of which were AMAZING. Everyone raved about the food for the entire night. I order the grilled lobster, scallops, and shrimp with a side of roasted potatoes and asparagus. DELICIOUS. Someone else order the salmon, the Lobster Tropez, and the Oscar — Everything was fresh and just so, so good.
I think you receive a decent amount of food for the price and the exceptional service. If you’re in the area, make sure to go here. I can’t wait to go back!

I thought about giving this 2 stars because the mussels and services were great, but the entrees were so bad, it really deserves one star. We didn’t have a reservation and asked for a table for 2, and the hostess gave us 3 different table options, when I really wish she would have just made the decision for us. We ended up sitting downstairs, which was not the atmosphere I was looking for.
The mussels were great but like other reviews on here a couple just tasted fishy. My favorites part of the meal was the warm bread. I got the seafood trio piccata, and my husband got the lobster st. Tropez. His lobster was way overcooked and so was mine. My shrimp were so over cooked they were hard, and the scallops didn’t looked cooked. My pasta was swimming in sauce, and did not taste like a traditional picatta.
When the waitress asked how everything was I said «its alright» which I think caught her off guard and she didn’t know how to respond except by getting the check. If I was a waitress, I would be concerned if my customers did not eat their meals, or ask for a To go box, like us. One appetizer, two entrees, and the bill was $ 74, hardly worth half that.
We were really excited for a good seafood meal, and we picked this restaurant based off the great Unilocal reviews. But don’t be fooled, read the reviews that are not ‘currently recommended’ as those were very telling, and I would recommend them. We won’t be back.

Quaint and quiet place on a Tuesday night on Market St. Low ceilings, dim lighting and nautical décor make the place feel cozy. I had the lobster mac and cheese and it was delicious, although I found myself adding salt, but I would still highly recommend. I also had the blackened haddock wrap and although it wasn’t spicy at all it had a delicious creamy sauce and they let me sub fries for a side salad which was nice since I carb overloaded with the appetizer (if I hadn’t of been so hungry I probably would have been quite full after I ate that rich Mac n cheese!). The service was nice although it seemed as if they closed pretty early compared to what I’m used to in Dc-​they we’re shutting things down by 9pm. Parking was a bit tough on the street but there is a public metered lot (you don’t have to pay past 7pm though!) a five minute walk away.

Came here with my family while visiting Portsmouth. The bread they served was fresh and delightful! The butternut squash soup tastes like purée butternut squash… Kind of had baby food texture
If you like squash, this soup will definitely be up your alley!
I ordered grilled shrimp & lobster w asparagus and potatoes on the side. Asparagus and potatoes were good. The shrimp was prepared and seasoned really well. The lobster was amazing but it just wasn’t enough food and the price was kind of high. It’s a higher end place so I expected the price to be up there but I wish they gave me more food! Waitress was super friendly, knowledgeable, and had great service. Restaurant has a really good set up. Really good atmosphere, really good food just not enough food for me lol… The reason I gave this a 4 and not a 5 was portion size of the entrée for the price.

While visiting Portsmouth NH we stopped again at the The Dolphin Striker knowing the food it’s great. The Dips were delish, the mushroom soup was awesome and my entrée was just ok. I asked for the beef to be medium well and it came medium rare (not really my taste). Overall a good experience, we’ll come back again.

Shortened version. My lengthy review got erased! Bah…
Four guests, two 65, two 30.
Cute, 1800s New England Inn Ambiance. Great staff, great menu. Extensive wine list, bar tender made good drinks. My Beef Wellington, though cooked to perfection, was a little small and came only with peas floating in an au jus type sauce, no starch. Three others got fish. Fish menu interesting, four or five types of fish, each prepared four different ways. Each thought fish was good but not excellent.
Live music downstairs sounded good but, as we lingered too long in dining room there were no seats when we checked it out.
In retrospect, everything was great, we will have no problems returning but the entrees were each a little less than perfect preventing a five star rating.

This score was a tough one for me, because my husband and I had polar opposite experiences. We came to Portsmouth for the night for our anniversary, and my husband had been craving a nice tuna steak so after scouring Unilocal I chose Dolphin Striker.
My entrée of Blackened Chilean Sea Bass was outstanding. The fish was cooked nicely — though too much char on the outside, inside was perfection. The sauce was rich, flavorful and delicious, and the linguine was cooked perfectly. However, my husband’s grilled tuna was … well, it was bad. He ordered it medium rare to medium, which I tell him is a mistake but he doesn’t like it cold in the middle. However, it wasn’t even the way it was cooked (which was probably closer to medium well), but the piece of fish was, frankly, awful. It was fishy, tough and just didn’t taste good. There were pieces he literally spit out because they were so hard to chew. That being said, he does NOT send things back — its the too-​polite Minnesotan in him.
So, my meal was a very solid four, and his was a one. But service was excellent so I brought the score to a three.
Afterwards we went downstairs and had a drink at the bar, looking down on the well with the fish in it — such a neat idea. The bartender was very attentive, the drinks were made well, and the band that night (⁴⁄₂₄) was great.

This is a wonderful restaurant which just needs a few tweaks to be a 5 star hit.
1. Service is excellent. Our waitress was prompt, friendly and very professional.
2. The atmosphere is really great. Located in a low ceiling building it has that wonderful feel of an old seaport home.
3. The menu has a number of interesting options the best in my opinion is the ability to select one of several fish with a choice of 4 preparations. The only complaint I had about the food was an appetizer of lobster mac and cheese arrived stone cold in the middle. To their credit they fixed it PDQ.
I have been surprised that in a number of really nice places in Portsmouth that there is huge TV prominently on display; the one in the Dolphin Striker it is right in the middle of the dinning room. It is out of place and detracts from the coziness of the space. Deep six the TV. Prices are fairly standard and what you would expect from a place of this caliber.

The Dolphin Striker in Portsmouth New Hampshire
As I left my last cold call for the day (I got a Discovery appointment for October) I realized that it was time for dinner. Where would my taste buds travel to this evening? I Took out my trusty TripAdvisor and started my search. I found a place in Portsmouth and headed for it.
As I was looking for parking I spied this charming New England alley and in the distance I could see the harbor and some large boats. I walked there to take some pictures. It was beautiful.
On my way back up the alley I saw a woman sitting in a dimly lit doorway. It was such a picturesque setting. The temperature was just right and a slight breeze of sea air permeated the air. In my usual friendly way I said hello. Her name was Colleen and she was a hostess at the restaurant out on break. «Welcome to New Hampshire» she said; the home of live free or die and started to tell me about the restaurant. «Would you like a tour?» she asked.
On the inside was this amazing rustic restaurant made of brick, stone and polished wood. Lanterns and pictures of old sailing vessels adorned the walls. There was a well inside the bar area that in olden days provided fresh water for the sailors when they arrived at port. Today there are Japanese Koi fish in it. As I walked up the old staircase to the main dining area I was amazed to see old style wooden beams in the ceiling. What a beautiful place.
I looked over the menu and was offered a sample of the Lobstah Chowdah as they call it in Na Hampsha to try. Delicious! I have never seen such large chunks of Lobstah is any soup at any restaurant. Sold! I decided to stay for the rest of the meal. I can always try that other restaurant another night. Fresh bread was brought out still warm from the oven with a mix of Olive Oil and balsamic Vinaigrette for dipping. For the main course I decided on the Beef Wellington. The medium was cooked to perfection and as the pastry shell crumbled from the knife pressing thru I caught a glimpse of what promised to be a wonderful cut of Beef. The juices started to ooze out as I sliced the first bite.
In a casual setting I enjoyed my dinner. Sitting at the next table was the owner Peter who came over to see how I was enjoying my meal. This is New England I thought. Over on the other side a guy named Leif recanted old stories of his old motorcycle days. He was rich in history and started telling me stories about the wooden boats that used to be built in the area. The last one being a boat called «The Gertrude L Thebaud that was built in Gloucester before the arrival of the power boat. On the wall hung a framed replica of that magnificent vessel.
For desert It was a difficult choice between the Chocolate Mousse and the apple desert. Both were touted to be good. All of their deserts are home made at the restaurant. Being a true Chocolate lover I opted for the Mousse. I thought I had died and went to heaven. What an incredible desert!
Downstairs I could hear the sounds of what I was told was a pick-​up band that plays there on Monday nights. People just show up with their instruments and jam. What a great evening beyond what I had expected on a Monday night. As I sit here enjoying the band I am writing this review which you are reading now. I had to laugh when I heard this guy call out; «hey laptop, you got a dollar for the band?». As looked up there stood this young guy holding a fish bowl with some paper money stuffed in it looking at me. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a couple of dollars and placed them in the bowl.
Peter DiZoglio and Colleen, thank you for an amazing evening. I happened upon your restaurant totally by chance. I will not soon forget your hospitality and the amazing meal your chef prepared for me tonight. This was not dinner, it was a culenary experience!
If you are looking for a really neat place with old New England charm to dine, I highly recommend that you come to The Dolphin Striker! You will love it!